Planning a wedding is a beautiful experience as it can be equal parts stressful. Going back and forth with the idea of potentially hiring a Wedding Coordinator? Before you say “I don’t think I need one”, read this article to see the importance of introducing a coordinator into your wedding planning process.
Let’s get right to it, the main reason to hire a wedding coordinator is to alleviate stress. No matter how well you plan, organize and delegate, wedding planning is extremely stressful. Some people experience sleepless nights, loss of appetite and irritability. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful moments and days of your life and the chances of it being ruined grow rapidly due to stress and anxiety. Truth be told, even though it feels the day passes by like a blink of an eye, your wedding day is long packed with a ton of things going on. Putting aside the emotions, for a moment, you’re also working closing with venues, vendors, your bridal party, your family members, hotels, car services and more. Whenever anyone has a question, needs approval or clarification, who do you think they’re turning to? You.
Sitting down and at least speaking with a wedding coordinator about your vision and your plan will allow you to understand why you’re hiring them. They’re there for all your needs on the day of. They are the movers and shakers, the crisis managers, the schedule creators, the vendor communicators. Your wedding coordinator is your one-stop-shop for all things “stress free wedding planning”. You are passing over the reigns to your coordinator in becoming the main point of contact and that alone will make the entire wedding organizing process a lot simpler.
Another great reason for hiring a wedding coordinator is to keep your wedding day timeline on point. Your timeline has everything on it, from wake-up time to getting ready, heading to the venue, the bridal party lineup, cocktail hour start and more. Creating your timeline is a great way for you to still have control over your special day, but your coordinator will create it and see to it that everything runs smoothly on the day of. The timeline will be based off what you’ve planned and the coordinators job to produce this timeline and share it with the venue and vendors involved to ensure that everyone is on the same page. For example, if you’ve hired your photographer for 8 hours, it will be the coordinators task to make sure the photographer gets their getting ready shots all the way to the cake cutting and flower tossing-your coordinator is making sure that you get all the wedding photograph must-haves. Your chances of missing out on little things like this, not having a coordinator, can elevate greatly.
The coordinator also makes sure that each person stays true to the timeline. The timeline is created for a reason, is to make sure that nothing is missed, and everything runs on time and as smoothly as it can to avoid any time pockets throughout the day. Certain venues have their very own coordinator that is offered as part of their wedding package, but they are just in charge of their venue, not anything else. It’s best to weigh your options to make sure your entire day goes without a hiccup. Another added benefit to hiring a coordinator is they’re quick on their feet. Every planner and coordinator comes fully equipped with their very own emergency kit, things happen that you don’t plan into the day or the timeline and you want to be able for any situation to be handled quickly and with grace. Stain remover, zip ties, sewing kit, Advil, hot glue gun, bobby pins and the list goes on and on.
Not only does the DIY emergency kit come in handy, your coordinator also oversees having easily lost items arrive to the ceremony/reception. Your cake topper, cake cutting kits, toasting glasses, family photos-all packed up properly and arriving to your destination safely. They will also be packed up at the end of the night and given to either your bridal party or immediate family member, so your pieces aren’t left at the venue.
Still wondering exactly what tasks your soon-to-be wedding coordinator controls on your wedding day? Here’s a peek at what my own coordinating package offers:
v Month of/ Day of coordination begins 6 weeks prior to wedding date
v Review all contracts
v Venue hall final walk through
v Unlimited phone and email contact and in-person meetings at my office
v Final meet two weeks prior to wedding day
v Wedding day timeline creation
v Organizing and delegating timeline to all vendors
v Assist with vendor setup if needed
v Making sure final payments to venue and vendors are paid according to contract
v Packing up all of wedding couple’s belonging to take home
You deserve a wedding planning process and wedding day to happen as beautifully as you envisioned it in your mind. A wedding coordinator makes this happen, plain and simple. We’ve got into this business not only because we love design and organizing, because we want our brides and grooms to have a near seamless wedding. And who doesn’t want that?
